


The Only Person Grouchier than Aaron Hotchner

by SlytherinLuna



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M, Happy Aaron Hotchner, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags Are Hard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:40:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27480592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlytherinLuna/pseuds/SlytherinLuna
Summary: Aaron Hotchner is well within his rights to call in a consultant on any of his cases. He only hopes that his team doesn't riot when they see her and she isn't the death of him in the process.Or Hotch calls in a friend who has nothing left to give.
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic. Feedback is greatly appreciated!

“Of all the bars, in all the world, you walked into mine.” Came a familiar voice from behind her.

She smiled and grabbed a beer glass turning to fill it with the man’s regular. “Well considering this is my bar and you walked in here and you’re here almost every week that’s not really true is it?” she finished filling the glass and slid it across the bar to the stern looking man whose eyes glimmered with a hint of a smile. “But other than all that, what you just said was accurate.”

“I was filling in what you were thinking.” His smirk grew into a full smile. The bartender smiled and rolled her eyes in return and turned to help the patron next to him.

From the perspective of the uninformed onlooker it would look like the two people spent the rest of the evening flirting. They would smile at each other as he sat there until closing and her eyes would slide over to him while she was serving other patrons and she never walked too far away from where he was sitting at the bar. To the observant onlooker however they would see the tightness in her smile and the way she tensed when she noticed he was still sitting there the later it became. They would see that he barely sipped his beer and it took him until last call to even get close to finishing it.

The bartender called last call and ran all her closing procedures, but still the man sat there. She kicked out all the patrons, but still the man sat there. She never acknowledged him or even attempted to kick him out. She simply carried on until she locked the door.

She took a deep breath as if to steady herself before slowly turning towards the man at the bar. She straightened her spine and seemed to grow taller as she made her way over to him.

“What do you want Aaron?”

“What makes you think I want something?”

“You barely drank your beer and you never left. Usually you order, drink, and leave. So, I ask you again, what do you want?” She crossed her arms and glared at him.

“We need you on a case.” Before he’d barely finished she had cut in.

“No.” She turned away from him and moved to start wiping down tables and stacking the chairs on top of them.

“Juliette,” he began.

“Etta.”

He paused, “What?”

“I go by Etta now. We’ve been over this.” she didn’t turn to look at him, just continued to methodically clean tables and stack chairs. Aaron stood from the bar and stepped right into her path.

“Etta, then. We need you, you’re the only one who can help us.” He almost sounded like he was pleading, but she wasn’t having it.

She finally stopped cleaning and looked up at him. “I don’t work with you anymore.” She was shocked by what she saw when she met his eyes. He looked haggard, like he hadn’t slept in days. If the case was giving them that hard of a time she knew he most likely wasn’t sleeping at home on a bed if he was sleeping at all. She shook off the feeling of pity for him and continued on to the next table.

“Technically you do still work for the Bureau. They offered you retirement but you only took extended leave and went to partial retirement. You’re still on the payroll as a consultant and I can call you into active status if I go up the chain of command. I came to ask because I didn’t want to force you into coming and working this case.” He followed her as she continued to clean. “We need your skills for this case.”

She stopped in her tracks and whirled around to face him. “My skills?” She snorted. “Just call it what it is, you need a distraction to apprehend an UnSub. Find another girl.”

She put her back to him once more but was kept from moving by his hand grabbing her arm. “I don’t just need you as a distraction. I need your point of view on this case, to see if we’ve missed anything. You don’t even have to go into the field.” Aaron turned her back around to face him. “You were the best.”

“Emphasis on was. I’m not anymore.” She shook off his hand and moved to the next table. “I’m not working the case, Aaron.”

“He’s taking children.”

She didn't stop wiping the table and sighed. “You’ve solved child abduction cases before without me.” “He’s selling them into prostitution and working in sex clubs.”

She stood to her full height and threw the rag on the table before stepping closer to him. “There it is. The reason you want me. Find the ex-FBI agent who was taken by a ring and ask her to help you catch a guy doing the same thing.” She took him by the arm and marched him over to the door. “Get out.”

“You’re not ex-FBI, as I already told you. I can get the director’s approval to call you in if I have to. It’ll be easier if you just come in and help us catch this guy. Then you can come back to your bar and live happily FBI free ever after.” He had her and he knew it. If the director got involved she could be called in full-time instead of just being a consultant.

“Fine. I’ll see you in the morning. But you’re never allowed back in my bar.”

“Deal.” And then he left.

Etta wanted to scream in frustration but stopped herself. Knowing him he would hear her and damn profilers read too much into everything. He’d probably think he was affecting her, He was, but he needed to know that about as much as she wanted to acknowledge it.

Instead she cleaned the bar, and if she scrubbed a little more roughly than was necessary she ignored that. She chose to instead think about what Aaron had told her. She lost everything because of the bureau, but she had never been able to leave it behind, it’s why she only took partial retirement. She finished closing up and hurried home, tomorrow was going to be a long day.

* * * * *

_They burst into the house, guns drawn and searched each room. They knew he was here, they knew he was alone, and they knew he was their guy. Alice and Juliette went upstairs to clear the rooms while the rest of their team and the BAU cleared the first floor. The hallway and the first two rooms were clear but they found him in the master bedroom back against the bay window, holding a terrified teenage girl hostage. Alice and Juliette had done this enough times that they had it down to a science. Alice went in to try and talk him down while Juliette never took her gun off him from behind her. It was routine, they’d done it hundreds of times._

_This was not routine. The UnSub let the girl go and Alice moved in to arrest him. Juliette quickly pulled the girl behind her and in that moment she focused on something other than him, the UnSub and pulled his gun up and aimed it at Alice. He and Juliette fired almost simultaneously, but he shot first. Alice hit the floor a fraction of a second before the UnSub did. Juliette yelled into her coms for a medic as she ran to both of them. She checked the Unsub and kicked his weapon away but her shot had hit its mark, he was dead. She swiftly moved to Alice to do something, anything, to keep her partner and best friend alive._

_The bullet was in her neck and Juliette tried to staunch the bleeding and Alice looked up at her. Juliette’s vision began to swirl as her eyes filled with tears._

_“Hang on Alice, help is on the way. Hang on, don’t leave me.” her voice was cracking as she repeated herself and she yelled again for a medic. But it was too late._

_Alice locked eyes with Juliette and mouthed I love you before her eyes glossed over, and she was gone. Juliette tried CPR, tried everything but when the medic pulled her off of Alice, they said it was too late. She was gone. Juliette was alone._

* * * * *

Etta shot awake. She hated dreaming of that night, she hated remembering it at all, but at night she couldn’t stop her mind from remembering that. She checked her phone for the time and realized she had to be up in an hour anyways so she resigned herself to being awake. She could never go back to sleep after the nightmare.

That day ruined her life, and took away her whole family. She had lost her parents and siblings in a home invasion gone bad while she’d been away at college, so Alice’s family had taken her in. They couldn’t legally adopt her, since she was already 22 at the time, but she had been a Misha from that day forward. When Alice died, her family blamed Juliette. Alice had only joined the FBI because Juliette begged her to join with her, and they blamed her for their daughter’s death. They weren’t wrong. Juliette should never have taken her eyes off the UnSub. She had been alone from that day forward, started going by Etta, and gotten out of the FBI. It wasn’t like her life had been sunshine and daisies before she met Alice, but it had been closer to sunshine and daisies with Alice in her life, and the world lost its color when Juliette lost her.

Etta shook her head to clear mind of the painful memories as she started getting ready for what she was sure to make the top ten worst days of her life, and those slots weren’t filled with fluffy memories. She dragged herself into the shower and and through the rest of her morning routine. She left the house and got into her car and drove the short distance to Quantico, mentally preparing herself to be an FBI agent once more.


	2. Chapter 2

Aaron Hotchner, unit chief of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit stared at his team members debating how to tell them what he’d done. Technically he was well within his rights to bring in a consultant and another set of hands, and Juliette Carroll was one half of the best duo the Sex Crimes Unit had seen in the last fifty years, but she also had a reputation. She was ruthless and efficient at all times, including in her relationships with other people. Sex crimes only tolerated her because she was personable around her partner, but once Alice was gone Juliette shut down so completely that people breathed easier once she was went into partial retirement. The last case she was on was a joint force with the BAU, so some of them knew her, and she wasn’t easily forgotten.

He decided that he shouldn’t let them find out when she walked in, that would make it worse for him and them. He stepped out of his office and signaled for his team to assemble in the conference room. Once they had all taken their seats he took a deep breath.

“I’ve called in a favor to get us some help with this case.” He started. The team looked intrigued, almost excited that there would be someone else and a new set of eyes to look over everything and hopefully put this horrendous case behind them. 

“Who’s coming Hotch?” Morgan voiced the question they all were all thinking.

He sighed. “Agent Juliette Carroll has agreed to come out of partial retirement to assist us with this case.”

His team members tried to hide their reactions quickly, but Aaron caught the annoyed look from Morgan, the anxious look from Reid, and the confused looks from Prentiss and Rossi who never met Juliette. JJ almost looked amused by the look on Reid’s face.

“I know there’s history and I know she has a reputation, but she is the best and she will be able to help us. But, she is still healing from her loss and she now goes by Etta, do not call her Juliette.” Hotch was sterner than usual when he said this. He knew Morgan would probably enjoy riling her up, so he wanted to be sure he got the message.

“Who is this Etta and why do all of you know her?” Rossi asked.

“We worked a case with her a couple years back, a joint investigation between sex crimes and the BAU. We discovered a sex trafficking ring, and they came in to help us take down the leader. When we went to apprehend him Agents Carroll and Misha confronted him, but something went wrong. The UnSub and Agent Misha were both shot and killed. No one really knows what happened because Agent Carroll wasn’t telling anyone. Then she left the bureau.” Morgan summed up. “And she was a real piece of work before she lost her partner, I can’t imagine what she’s like now.”

“Oh trust me, I’m way worse now.” Came a voice from the doorway. 

“Agent Carroll, come in.” Hotch moved out of the way so she could take a seat. He made the introductions to the team members she hadn’t met before, and they got to work. 

* * * * *

Etta was surprised to be informed that they had a pool of suspects, but they couldn’t narrow it down to which one was most likely the UnSub. The second problem was they only had a suspect pool because all the men attended the nightclub the girls were last seen at. They needed to get in the club, distract all the men so they could take the time to gather identities so Garcia could run background checks to narrow down the list. That’s why Aaron called in Etta, she was the queen of providing distractions.

“So we’ll go to the club, I know the owner and he owes me a favor, he’ll give me the opportunity to do my thing to keep everyone occupied. Y’all get the identities of everyone in the club and the beautiful Agent Garcia does her thing. Easy peasy.” Etta said with a wink to Garcia. They’d been planning for about an hour before this plan came to fruition, but the team still felt like Etta was leaving something out. She hadn’t given them any new leads or helped them narrow down the list.

Morgan asked the question on everyone’s mind first, again. “And what exactly is ‘your thing’ that will distract all the patrons of the nightclub?”

Etta looked to Aaron and asked, “You didn’t tell them why you called me?”

“No. I was hoping you wouldn’t have to go into the field at all so it wouldn’t matter what your field work capabilities were.” Aaron stated.

Etta snorted. “And I totally believe you thought that.” The sarcasm dripped from her voice. She looked at Morgan and elaborated on the plan. “Before I was an FBI agent and even before I went to college, I worked as a nightclub singer. From there I was taken by a sex trafficking ring where I was forced into working at a strip club.” At Morgan’s confused look she elaborated. “The ring kept up a pretense of being a legitimate business by running a few legal strip clubs. I was one of the lucky girls.” She said with a wry smile. “I’ll be on stage, singing and acting a manner that will make me stare at me.” This was accompanied by a very pointed look. “I doubt the good doctor over there would like me to elaborate on what I’ll be doing, but if you want a private show later big guy you just let me know.” She winked at Morgan who simply rolled his eyes.

“In your dreams, Carroll.”

“Sweetie even in your dreams you can’t get what I’m offering you.” Etta smirked.

“That’s enough.” Aaron cut in with a look to both Etta and Morgan. They stopped sniping immediately and turned back to focus on preparations. 

“I do have one stipulation for this plan.” The team looked at Etta once she spoke up. Her voice shook slightly as she continued, “If I have to go back into the field I’m not taking a weapon with me. Mostly because I can’t fit one under the dress I’ll be wearing,” she managed a weak smirk as she said this, “but I need to know that there is someone who has my back in the field. Someone who will make sure that I leave that club unharmed.”

“Rossi will be staying with you in the club, and the rest of us will be scattered around but we will not let anything happen to you Etta.” She let out an exhale of relief and smiled.

“Thank you. Now, I guess I should probably get ready to seduce a room full of men.” She quickly left the conference room, stopping only to pick up a bag she had placed on the floor near the door before disappearing from view.

There was a moment of silence before the team began to let Aaron know exactly how they felt about having Agent Carroll on the team. It was a mixed bag to be sure, but the most vocal person was Morgan, and he was vehemently opposed to her help.

“What is she going to do that the rest of us can’t? We have JJ and Prentiss who could easily be the distraction in the club if that’s what we need. Hotch, she needs a babysitter in the field and she won’t be armed. Why is she here?”

“Morgan, what she can do to distract the men in the club is far beyond the capabilities of either JJ or Prentiss. It’s not what they are trained for and it is not only what she is trained by the FBI to do, but also something she learned to do from experience. She will be able to help us identify the UnSub while she is performing; she can essentially profile them based on how they react to her. While Garcia is running background traces she may be able to pick up on more viable suspects while she’s singing. We need her on this case.” Hotch sounded like he was running out of patience and Morgan didn’t seem too excited about the answer but he dropped the subject.

The team gathered everything they would need in the field and Etta returned to from wherever she had gone off to so she could prepare. She was now wearing a long, black gown that hugged her figure perfectly. She had curled her hair until it fell in large ringlets around her face and down her back and her make-up was done in an old Hollywood style, winged eyeliner and all. When they men saw her she almost laughed. They all had to take a minute to pick their jaws up off the floor. The women complimented the way she looked and assured them that she would easily be able to distract all the men, just look at what she’d done to the men in this room. She merely smiled and looked to Aaron for his approval. He nodded once at her and she saw the hint of a smile on his lips. If anyone ever asked, she would deny how that smile warmed the heart so many thought completely iced over.

The moment between them was over almost before it began and the team rushed into action. They loaded into their SUVs and headed to the nightclub. They still had to convince the owner to let Etta sing, something she assured them would be a piece of cake. 

The drive was made in almost complete silence, Etta was mentally preparing herself to be her stage persona, and Aaron was less than surreptitiously checking to make sure she was holding it together. He knew she didn’t believe him, but he didn’t intend for her to go into the field. She thought he lied to get her to join them, but he knew how difficult this was going to be on her and he never wanted this to happen.

“I can feel you staring at me and it’s distracting me from becoming who I need to be for this to work.” Etta said without opening her eyes. Aaron thought she looked like she was meditating. In a way, he guessed she was. 

“I didn’t want you to have to go into the field, no matter what you think. I didn’t lie to you.” She snorted derisively in response and no more was said between them. 

When they arrived at the club she snapped out of whatever kind of trance she had placed herself in. They stepped out of the car and Etta assumed an almost haughty expression and she held herself taller than she normally did. She beckoned Aaron over and motioned for him to hold his arm out for her to take. If he ever rolled his eyes, he would have in this moment, but he simply let her take his arm and led him into the club.

They walked in and a man walked out to greet them with an annoyed expression on his face. “We’re still closed, you can’t just barge in here—,” he stopped when he saw who it was. His faced curled into a sneer. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t Miss Juliette Carroll. What can I do for you?”

She simply smiled at him and said, “Johnny, we’ve been friends for a long time. Call me Etta.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Etta now? It’s fitting. You were one of the only girls that could pull off singing her.” He looked her up and down, as if noticing her ensemble for the first time. “What do you need?”

Her smile turned predatory, “You’re going to let me sing tonight Johnny, for as long as I want. All night long if I so choose. Do you know why that is Johnny?”

He gulped and when he spoke his voice shook slightly. “I can’t do that. I have other acts booked and you haven’t sung here in years. I don’t know if you still have the talent.”

Her tone changed to the one used by people talking to small children. “Johnny the FBI badge I have says you’ll let me sing here.” He looked startled by this and began to look afraid but Etta continued on. “You and I both know I still have the voice and all the other talents one needs to be an effective act. Besides, it’s going to save you some money, you pay your other acts. You don’t have to pay me.”

He looked visibly shaken by her, but he just mutely nodded and moved to make some phone calls. Etta turned and looked at the club, remembering the days that she used to moonlight here, singing old jazz standards to pervy men. She had been taken from here one night after work by one of those pervy men, and she was coming back to this place to find someone who wanted to do the same thing to her again. She had to find the man capable of taking young women to force them into a life that she had been lucky enough to escape from.

The team assembled in the club and Johnny gave them all a wide berth. Etta went over to smooth things over with him. Whatever she said must have worked because he was puffing his chest out like a peacock after only a few moments of her obvious flattery. They spoke for a few moments more before she rejoined the team. 

“I cleared my setlist with him. My closing song will be ‘At Last’ by Etta James, that’s when you’ll know I’ve found the UnSub, or at least once you let me know that Garcia has narrowed down the list enough that I can stop. Aaron-” the team looked almost surprised that she addressed him by his first name, “will signal to me that Garcia has found him and I’ll know to get off the stage so you can move in to arrest him.” The team nodded in response and she hesitated before speaking again. “For one song I will need some help to sell it and me to the audience. Normally I would just use random audience members, but since we’re looking for an UnSub I’d feel safer if I could have you guys be audience plants for the opening song.”

“What do you need?” Aaron asked.

“Morgan and Reid to be willing participants,” she looked almost guiltily at Reid, “I’m going to have to get a little up close and personal with you guys, but I know you best.” She looked over at Rossi, “No offense.”

“None taken.” he easily replied.

“And Reid, I’m sorry, I know you’re not a toucher and what I’ll do will probably be really uncomfortable for you, but that will help. Don’t try and pretend that you’re comfortable if you’re not.”

“How will my being uncomfortable help?” He asked, his head tilted a little to the side.

“Most men that come to these kinds of things are looking to be touched by the performer, it may not be a strip club but we do engage with the patrons. I will appear—how do I put it—more attractive, more enticing even, to the other patrons if someone is uncomfortable by my overtures.” He nodded in understanding, but was clearly unenthused by the notion.

Aaron broke in, “The club opens soon, we need to get into position. Etta, you should go backstage and warm up and we’ll head out so we can filter into the club. Rossi, stay with Etta.” Everyone nodded and moved to get into position. Hopefully they would catch the guy and this nightmare would be over, for them and for the girls they’ve been holding. 

Etta and Rossi were led to a green room by Johnny where Etta took the last few minutes before she had to go on stage to warm up and prepare for being onstage once again. Etta was grateful that Rossi left her in peace while she prepared, she was anxious enough as it was, she didn’t need him checking in on her and making her give voice to her anxiety. Saying it out loud would make it more real and she didn’t have the time to think about how sick to her stomach she was at the idea of performing again. 

Soon Johnny came to get her and it was time. There was no more time for apprehension, anxiety, or nervousness. The show must go on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

“Ladies and Gentlemen please put your hands together for the one, the only, Etta Carroll!”

The music began, the curtains opened, and standing there was a woman dressed black gown that clung to her curvy frame. Her raven hair was curled and fell around her shoulders, her red tinted lips were curved into a half smile, and her eyes were lined to make them look larger. In short she looked like she stepped right out of a 1950 nightclub and every person in the room was hooked. Then she began to sing. 

_ Never know how much I love you, never know how much I care _

As she sang she moved her hips in rhythm with the beat of the song, mesmerizing every man and woman in the club.

_ When you put your arms around me I get a fever that's so hard to bear _

_ You give me fever when you kiss me fever when you hold me tight _

_ Fever in the mornin’ fever all through the night _

As she finished the first verse she moved from the stage into the audience, trailing her hands along the shoulders of the men she passed, none of them meeting the criteria only she knew for the man worthy enough to hold her attention.

_ Sun lights up the day time moon lights up the night _

_ I light up when you call my name 'cause I know you're gonna treat me right _

_ You give me fever when you kiss me fever when you hold me tight _

_ Fever in the mornin’ fever all through the night  _

She found a man she found acceptable as she moved into the bridge, a nervous looking boy in the middle of the club. He looked apprehensive as she approached him and when she reached him ran her fingers through his sandy hair before perching on his lap.

_ Everybody's got the fever that is somethin' you all know _

_ Fever isn't such a new thing fever started long time ago _

He placed his hands on her hips looking not like he was doing it because he wanted to touch her, but more for something to do with his hands. She smiled appreciatively at him when his hands hit her waist and she ignored everyone in the room to sing the next verse directly to him.

_ Romeo loved Juliet, Juliet she felt the same _

As she sang she stood and pulled him up with her by his tie. Helooked startled, but almost downright terrified when she pulled his arms around her, turning so her back was against his chest. 

_ When he put his arms around her, he said, "Julie baby you're my flame" _

_ Thou givest fever when we kisseth fever with thy flaming youth _

_ Fever I'm on fire fever yea I burn forsooth _

As she finished the verse she turned and ran her hand down his chest under the pretense of re-tucking his tie into his vest, blew him a kiss, and continued working her way through the crowd. Every man was on the edge of his seat, if she had chosen that man, clearly anyone was eligible to receive her attention.

_ Captain Smith and Pocahontas had a very mad affair _

She had her eye on a man a few tables over and she easily made her way through the tables, her eyes never moving off of him, He was a marked man, and he knew it. He rose to greet her as she made it to his table. He was the exact opposite of the man she had chosen before: a heavily muscled black man, he was self assured, confident, and when she reached him he smiled as she stepped into his arms. 

_ When her daddy tried to kill him she said "Daddy oh don't you dare” _

She turned in his arms so she had her back pressed to his chest, it seems that this was her signature move. Instead of waiting for her to place his arms around her, he moved his hands to her hips, pulling her closer to him, and began running his fingers along her dress.

_ ”He gives me fever with his kisses” "Fever when he holds me tight” _

She looped one arm up and around his neck and helped him move closer to her as she moved her hips in rhythm with the song.

_ "Fever, I'm his missus” "Daddy won't you treat him right?” _

She turned and gave him a sultry look, trailing her fingers from the back of his neck to under his chin before stepping away from him and heading back towards the stage. As she glided towards the stage her eyes fell on one final man, half hidden in the shadows, leaning against the wall. She changed course from the stage toward him, her final mark for the song. He was a stern looking man in a suit, his expression didn’t change as she approached him and he gave no indication whether he was affected by her presence at all.

_ Now you've listened to my story here's the point that I have made _

_ Chicks were born to give you fever be it Fahrenheit or Centigrade _

She leaned next to him on the wall and in the break between the lines of the long she leaned up and almost pressed her cheek against his in the semblance of a kiss to sing the next line as if she was whispering it for only him to hear.

_ They give you fever when you kiss them fever if you live and learn  _

_ Fever till you sizzle what a lovely way to burn  _

The tips of her fingers ghosted across his cheek as she turned away from him. She finished the last few bars of the song as she glided back to the stage.

_ What a lovely way to burn  _

_ What a lovely way to burn  _

_ What a lovely way to burn _

As her first song came to an end the room erupted into thunderous applause that she merely smiled at before indicating to the band to continue onto her next song. She spent the rest of her set on the stage, never venturing back into the audience, but no man took their eyes from her. She sang for what seemed like hours and made each man feel like she sang directly to them, holding eye contact with each of them for at least a moment every song. Until she came to her last song. She seemed to sing it directly to one man sitting in the center of the room. As she sang Etta James’ ‘At Last’ she never once took her eyes off him, even venturing once more into the audience to walk past him and run her fingers along his shoulders. Once she had passed by him she turned and sent him a wink over her shoulder.

When the song was over she was back on the stage, she curtsied to close her set, and the curtain closed. The room remained quiet for a few moments after the curtain closed, the audience still entranced by her presence. The spell broke and thunderous applause rang through the club as the audience came to its feet. The first man to leave his seat was the last man she had chosen to sing to. Under the cover of the movement of the adoring crowd, he snuck through the club and into through the door that led backstage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has read and left kudos on my story! It means so much to me, especially because this is my first story.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. Please let me know what you think!

Etta walked out on to the stage, heard her opening notes and allowed her lids to close halfway to give an appearance of having just woken up, for some reason it drove men crazy. She began to sing, taking a few moments to look around the room and locate all her teammates. The best thing about this particular club was that it was built to have wonderful acoustics from every part of it, no microphone needed so one could sing and move around the club. She made her way through the audience to find Reid. The nice thing about this cover was it gave her the excuse to run her fingers through Reid’s hair, something she’d wanted to do since she met him. He had these long soft curls that were just begging to be tousled, so tousle them she did.

She sat on his lap to sing to him, but kept more of her weight on her own feet so she didn’t make him bear her weight, especially since she was about to do something that would make him even more uncomfortable. Once she’d had her fun , and made the good doctor as flustered as possible, she moved to find a more willing participant. Morgan.

As she was walking toward Morgan, Etta passed by JJ and Prentiss at their table. JJ leaned over to Prentiss and Etta heard her whisper, “I don’t swing that way, but damn if I don’t right now.” Prentiss agreed with her and they both softly laughed as they watched her move across the room. Etta smirked internally when she heard JJ’s comment.

Etta wasn’t surprised that Morgan rose to pull her to him as she walked to him. She knew he’d play the part of the desperate man craving her touch. He played his part to perfection and she moved on. She wasn’t really intending to move toward Aaron, but she saw him standing in the corner, brooding, and she couldn’t help herself. 

His face betrayed nothing as she approached him, but the closer she got to him she saw his eyes widen almost imperceptibly and his eyes never left hers. She knew she couldn’t approach him the way she had the other two, so she kept a little distance between them. She needed to be close to him, felt her heart racing in her chest so she pressed her cheek to his, almost kissing him, but she stopped herself before she could. Instead she brushed her fingertips across his cheek before moving back to the stage. Normally she looked back at the men she entranced as she walked away from them, but she couldn't look back at Aaron. She felt something in herself and saw something in Aaron’s eyes that she couldn’t think about right now. 

As she finished the song and through the next one her mind kept flitting back to her reaction to Aaron. Her reaction to him was unlike any she had ever had to him. They've been friends for years, and there had never been an inkling in her mind of anything more than friendship. It must just be the persona of the nightclub singer getting to her. 

She shook the feeling off as best she could and began to watch the patrons to find the one who was too interested. Too eager. Leering just a little too much. The one more obsessed with her body than with her voice and the experience she was creating. Then she found him. Every time she looked at him he was leering at her curves, eyes locked on the deep cut of the dress. Just for him, she swayed her hips a little extra to gauge his reaction, and if there ever was an overreaction to a hip sway that was it. 

She signaled the band to play her last song and she began to sing, making sure Aaron was watching her. She didn’t need to worry, once he heard her opening words his eyes were locked on her. She moved toward the man, not taking her eyes off him. She knew the team was watching her every movement as she marked the UnSub for them.She finished her set and moved back to the stage. The curtain closed behind her and she left for the safety of her dressing room, counting on her team to capture him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments and of course for reading this story at all!

She sat down at her vanity so she could start taking off her makeup. Rossi greeted her when she stepped inside and told her she had done well. At her confused look he told her he had watched from behind the band and left to beat her back into the dressing room. They sat there quietly chatting for a while as Etta changed into her more professional and FBI bad guy catching clothes. She was behind the changing screen when she heard the door open to her dressing room. She assumed it was Aaron or another member of the team to tell her that they caught the guy, After all, she had essentially painted a big neon sign over his head that said: “Bad Guy right here!!” So she was surprised to hear Rossi yell before a thud that signaled he was down for the count.

She ran out from behind the screen to see the UnSub staring at her, gun raised. She was absolutely defenseless and Rossi was down.

“Hello there sweetheart.” He leered. “You’re going to come with me, calmly, and we are going to get out of here. You do anything, scream for help, anything, I will shoot you. Do you understand me?”

She nodded mutely, her mind racing about how she was going to get out of this. Rossi was out cold on her floor so he couldn’t help. The only thing she could think that would help get her out of this was if one of the team members saw who she was with. He grabbed her by the arm, placed the gun against her back, and led her to the door. He opened it and was met with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit pointing their guns at him. Well, more accurately at Etta in between them. The UnSub pulled the gun from her back to point it at her head. Aaron was trying to talk him down and keep him from shooting Etta, but she was having none of it. She was never supposed to be in the field and she did everything she could to ensure her own safety. So, she did what any logically thinking woman would do: she elbowed the guy in the gut and used his surprise against him to disarm him. She punched him to ensure he was knocked out, too. Just for good measure.

She threw his gun on the ground, grabbed her things, and left the room. She thanked Johnny on her way out and slipped out the door before hailing a cab off the street to take her home. She was livid that Aaron put her in that position and if she stayed any longer she would punch him in the gut and take his gun. Both of them. And then shoot one of them at him. Maybe both. She got into the cab just as Aaron came outside to look for her. She looked him dead in the eyes and glared before sliding into the cab and driving away.

She made it home, stashed all her things away, and collapsed on the couch. She turned on the TV and pulled up Netflix, searching for something mindless to watch while she decompressed. What she really wanted to do was hit something, but all she had in the house was a few pillows, and she wasn’t about to punch those. She debated on whether or not to get up off the couch to get some food for a few minutes, before deciding it was better to get it now before she got too invested in the show she turned on. She puttered into the kitchen and pulled out all the ingredients for a sandwich and threw one together. She ate it as she walked back over to the couch before she sat down and pulled her favorite blanket across her lap before settling in for a night forgetting about the FBI. But of course, the things we want most of all don’t always come true.

The knock came to the door about an hour after she finished eating. She groaned and rolled off the couch and shuffled over to the door. Without looking through the peephole she pulled the door open to greet the person on the other side.

“How do you know where I live?” she asked when she saw Aaron outside her door.

“FBI file. Garcia checked for me. May I come in?” He asked as he walked past her into the house.”

“Yes, of course, come on in.” Sarcasm dripped from her voice as she closed the door. She crossed her arms and glared at him. “What do you want?”

“You can’t just leave a crime scene or the investigation before we’ve debriefed especially when you were instrumental in taking down the UnSub.” He looked just as mad as she did. Which in her opinion wasn’t fair. She was the one who was taken hostage when she was never supposed to be in the field in the first place. He was the one who told her that she wouldn’t have to go into the field. What right did he have to be mad at her?

“I think the cab that I got into would disagree with you.” She snapped. “Besides, I’m not on your team, I was just the bait. Why should I have to stick around to discuss what was caught by using me?” Her volume was slowly rising.

When Aaron replied his tone was just as loud as hers was. “You were held with a gun to your head. We need to make sure that you are unharmed and there are no lasting effects.”

This sent Etta over the edge. “Make sure there are no lasting effects? To my fragile psyche maybe? Because you put me in a position where I had to relive the worst night of my life? After you assured me that I wouldn’t have to be in the field at all and I would only be a consultant on this case? Did you not notice the UnSub moving into my dressing room after my show was over? Were you so distracted by my performance that you couldn’t keep an eye on the man I gave to you on a silver platter? You have some nerve coming here and telling me that I had to stick around for a psych eval when any problems with my psyche are your fault Aaron Hotchner.” By the time she finished her rant she was shouting at him and had shoved him away from her.

“I never intended for you to go into the field so don’t put that on me. I didn’t fail to notice that you brought everything you could possibly need to go into the field and serve as the distraction that we needed. I don’t think any one keeps those kinds of dresses in the office, so it’s not like you weren’t prepared for the possibility.” With every angry word he spoke he moved closer to her until they were almost touching. “When you are in the field your safety is the most important thing to me.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. How did you, the great Agent Hotcher, not notice the UnSub move to follow me? Was I so good at my job that I charmed even the immovable Aaron Hotchner?” She looked ready to slap him across the face.

Aaron looked conflicted for a moment before he answered her question by grabbing her waist so he could pull her to him and press his lips against hers.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry for the long time between postings. All your comments and kudos have meant so much to me! This chapter isn't the longest but I wanted to get it out if anyone is still interested in reading!

_ “That doesn’t answer my question. How did you, the great Agent Hotcher, not notice the UnSub move to follow me? Was I so good at my job that I charmed even the immovable Aaron Hotchner?” She looked ready to slap him across the face. _

_ Aaron looked conflicted for a moment before he answered her question by grabbing her waist so he could pull her to him and press his lips against hers. _

To say she was shocked by this development would be the understatement of the year. Aaron’s lips were soft against her own in a stark contrast to the grip he had on her arms. Her eyes fluttered shut as she began to move her lips against his. Aaron responded in kind and moved his hands from her arms, one between her shoulder blades and the other to the small of her back. Etta brought her arms up and splayed her hands against his chest. 

Her mind finally decided to catch up to what was happening, and Etta shoved Aaron away as roughly as she could muster. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she yelled.

“Kissing you, I thought that much would be obvious.” He was smirking at her! Smirking! The nerve of that man.

Etta screeched, “Yes, thank you Aaron. I got that but why, why, would you think it’s acceptable to kiss me like that?”

Aaron raised an eyebrow, “My kissing wasn’t satisfactory? If you give me another chance I’ll try to do it better.”

Etta’s face flushed, whether from her anger or the feeling his words gave her she would never tell. Damn profiler probably could guess which one. She covered her blush by turning away from him and saying, “You can’t just kiss me, Aaron. You need to leave.”

The smirk fell from Aaron’s face and he looked at her with an emotion he dared not express. “Juliette--”

She whirled around to face him, her blush replaced with anger. “My name is Etta. Now get out of my house!”

His tone rose to almost match hers while still remaining calm and even. “Your name is Juliette. You went through something unspeakable, terrible, but you cannot run and hide from it.” He moved towards her to cup her cheeks in his hands so he could raise her eyes to meet his. He lowered his voice until he was almost whispering. “You are Juliette Carroll--”

Etta pulled her head away from his hands roughly and jerked away from him. “Don’t talk to me like you understand what I’m going through. Like you care.” She spat.

Aaron’s expression clouded over and he stepped away from Etta. “You’re right. I couldn’t know what you’re going through. It’s not like I lost my wife or anything.” The venom in his voice stung her. She knew she'd made a mistake the moment she’d said it. 

She reached out her hand to touch him, but Aaron turned and stepped away from her, moving towards the door. “Aaron, Aaron I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…” she trailed off. He had shut himself off from her and was distancing himself. It was exactly what she’d wanted a moment ago, but now that it was happening she wanted nothing more than for him to look at her like she mattered once more.

“No, Etta. You did mean it. You win. I’ll leave you alone to run your bar and run from your life.” He finally turned and looked at her, “Thank you for your help on the case. report to Quantico tomorrow morning for a debrief with Chief Strauss.” And with that, Aaron Hotchner walked back out of her life. 

  
  



End file.
